Estée Lauder to Retest Ad Claims

On Wednesday, WWD reported that Estée Lauder's chief executive officer Fabrizio Freda dropped a bombshell on a call with analysts: "We recently learned that some testing related to certain products advertising claims had been intentionally altered for some time by a small group of employees." He continued, "We are sorry this occurred and we take full responsibility for this matter." It isn't completely clear what happened and what the brand will be doing about it, so Allure spoke to Alexandra Trower, the executive vice president of global communications at Estée Lauder, to get clarification on the kinds of claims the company is referring to and what we can expect moving forward.

"Think of an eye shadow, and think of a claim that might be on an online ad that says that it provides 12-hour smudge-proof coverage. Our retesting of things will show either yes, indeed, it's 12 hours, or it's actually 14 hours, or maybe it's eight hours," Trower gave Allure as an example.

She strongly stresses that people don't have to worry about the safety of any of their favorite products. "It's not about the formulation, and it's not about the ingredients. This is really about an issue related to advertising claims. The products that our consumers know and love are in no way impacted from a safety perspective."

As for which claims are affected by this review, it could potentially impact multiple brands under the Estée Lauder umbrella — the portfolio includes familiar names like M.A.C., Smashbox, and Origins. However, "It doesn't include fragrance, and it doesn't include naturally derived hair care," Trower explains. "Brands like Clinique — it doesn't impact the allergy-tested, 100-percent fragrance-free promise to our consumers. It doesn't impact anything with SPF protection claims, and it doesn't impact anything with acne and blemish treatment." Advertised claims about other types of skin-care products, makeup, and non-natural hair care are apparently the ones being revisited.

"We really want to make sure we're looking at our top products first. If we need to make any modifications, we will start doing that as soon as possible. As we do this, we will modify those advertising claims, and we'll do it on a rolling basis," she says. "Basically, we are working 24/7 with speed and diligence and great care."

And while some of the products you have might have been advertised with incorrect claims, Trower emphasizes that "this is an issue that occurred in the past." In addition to the brand's efforts to retest and update any claims, she says, "anything that we are launching today, going forward — every single one of those advertising claims — we have ample data that is correct."